Equal divisions of four topped by single row of five krises, sided by a Pinang palm along with the Penang Bridge to the left and a Malacca tree to the right, and based on divisions containing the state arms of Sabah and Sarawak and a hibiscus

Originally, the fourteen-pointed star represented the original fourteen states of Malaysia, which included Singapore. It was not changed when Singapore left the Federation in 1965, but it has generally been accepted that the 14th point represents the Federal Territories.

In the upper middle of the shield, below the row of krises, are the colours of the Federated Malay States (red, black, white and yellow) arranged from left to right. The permutations of the colours red, black, white and yellow make up the colours of these states' flags. Red, black and yellow are for Negeri Sembilan; black and white for Pahang; black, white and yellow for Perak; and red and yellow for Selangor.

In the lower middle of the shield, there are three sections formerly representing the new (in 1963) states of Sabah, Singapore and Sarawak. Since 1965, Singapore's section has been replaced by a depiction of the national flower, the hibiscus.

In the sinister (right from the observer's point of view) section is the "Malacca" tree representing Malacca

The motto of the arms, located below the shield, consists of a banner with the phrase "Unity is Strength" (Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu)[2][3] written in both romanisedMalay and Jawi. The original English phrase was replaced by romanised Malay some time after independence.

The arms, like its modern successors, included a shield, two tigers, and a banner, but depicts an eastern crown on the helm, representing the four sultanates. The shield's design was also significantly simpler; as the FMS consists of only four states, the shield encompassed a quarterly "party per cross" division representing the colours of the flag of the four FMS (in the same way the flag of the FMS represents the states, and the colours in the modern Malaysian arms represent the same states). The motto was also originally written in Jawi as "Dipelihara Allah" (Under God's (Allah's) Protection) flanked by two eight-pointed stars. Dipelihara Allah is today the Selangor state motto.

The Federation of Malaya arms in use between 1948 and 1963, based heavily on the FMS arms, would serve as the basis of the current Malaysian arms.

The founding of the Federation of Malaya in 1948 led to a revision of the arms. Among the changes were a more complete representation the 11 states of the federation on the shield (where new partitions containing insignias of the additional states added over and beside the original FMS colours), the replacement of the eastern crown with a yellow crescent and an 11-pointed federal star (symbols representing the 11 states that were derived from the flag of the Federation of Malaya). The original Jawi motto was also replaced with "Unity is Strength" in both English and Jawi Malay.

At the point of adoption, the shield was composed of the following elements:

Coat of arms of Malaysia used from 1963 to 1965, with three new member states added to the bottom: Sabah, Singapore and Sarawak.

Coat of arms of Malaysia used from 1965 to 1975, following the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation.

Coat of arms of Malaysia used from 1975 to 1988. Sarawak had changed its State Flag and changed it again because of its similarity to the flag of the Czech Republic.

The Royal arms of His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

The arms was amended a second time after the formation of Malaysia, with the admission of Singapore and the Borneo states of North Borneo (Sabah) and the Sarawak in 1963. The increased number of states later resulted in the modification of the Federation of Malaya coat of arms to support the three new member states with the widening of the shield. The tigers were redesigned to assume different positions of limbs (front limbs reaching over and behind the shield, and rear limbs reaching over the motto and the shield), and minor adjustments were also made on the appearance of the banner and the length of the crescent, while the 11-pointed federal star was updated to include 14 points. In tandem with the declaration of Malay as Malaysia's national language, the English motto was replaced with Malay language.

During this period of revision, the Malacca's colonial A Famosa insignia was replaced by a Malacca tree.[3] Some of the symbols was modified to eliminate the colonial symbols and other non-Islamic symbols. While other symbols was remained. Penang's Prince of Wales's feathers and crenellation were gradually replaced, by first substituting the feathers with a Pinang palm and, later, the crenellation with the Penang Bridge (which was constructed and completed during the 1980s).[3] Following the expulsion of Singapore in 1965, the coat of arms was redesigned again.[3] In 1988, Sarawak's symbol replaced by the current hornbill-based state arms; similarly, Sabah, which was originally represented by only its flag held up by a pair of arms from its pre-1963 state coat of arms, was revised to fully feature its current state arms in entirely.[3] The Malaysia's version of coat of arms later resulted in a more realistic and aggressive appearance of tigers.

The present coat of arms is featured on the flag of Putrajaya - signifying Putrajaya's importance as the new seat of the Malaysian government